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The Second
Conference of Mercosur Meat Industry Workers opened yesterday in Buenos Aires
with the participation of representatives of over 200 trade unions from
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, accompanied by a delegation from Finland's
Federation of Food Industry Workers and Labor Solidarity Center.
The Conference
was convened at the headquarters of the Argentinean Union of Rural Workers and
Stevedores (UATRE), presided by UATRE general secretary,
Gerónimo Venegas, and with Carlos Figueroa (UATRE
institutional relations secretary), Alberto Fantini (general
secretary of the Trade Union Federation of Meat and Byproducts Industry
Workers), Neuza Barbosa (vice president of the IUF's Latin
American Executive Committee), Gerardo Iglesias, (IUF Latin American
regional secretary), and Heriberto Serrizuela (UATRE assistant
secretary), who also presided the Conference in the morning, as the Conference's
officers. The workers immediately set out to exchange information about the
industry's situation in their countries and discuss their differences and
similarities.
The expansion
policy implemented in the region by some transnational corporations, in
particular Brazil-based corporations, has posed serious challenges to trade
unions, who are getting ready to face the rapid changes underway in the
industry.
Participants
have highlighted differences between the beef and poultry sub-sectors, as the
beef sub-sector is undergoing a crisis due to shortage of inputs in Argentina
and Uruguay, while poultry activities are experiencing a boom as a result
of rising international demand and the region's regaining of its position as the
leading chicken producing region in the world.
In their
presentations, the delegates outlined a number of common problems and threats,
which reveal just how necessary the establishment of a subregional coordinating
body is for the sector. The main purpose of the Conference was precisely the
creation of such a body.
Today, Tuesday,
Oct. 26, participants will be discussing the establishment of the coordinating
body, with the aim of adopting a final decision in that sense, including
defining the content of coordination activities in the scope of Mercosur, and
the mission, goals, strategy and authorities of the new body.
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